Hellraiser Boxing News | Who Is Carlos Takam?Paul Duckworth takes a closer look at Carlos Takam, Anthony Joshua's late replacement for the huge card on Saturday night. If you were wondering who Carlos Takam is, here's where you find out!

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When Kubrat Pulev pulled out of the much anticipated heavyweight clash against Anthony Joshua due to an apparent shoulder injury, many people asked who could replace him on just 11 days notice?

Answer: Carlos Takam.

The next question most people asked was "Who is Carlos Takam"?

Carlos Takam was born in Cameroon on 6th December 1980 (age 36, the same as Pulev) his full birth name being Armand Carlos Netsing Takam. Carlos began boxing at a young age, and represented Cameroon at the 2004 Olympics in the Super Heavyweight division making it through to the last 16 stage before being defeated.

Takam now resides in France and considers his nationality as French Cameroon. Turning professional in 2005, his record currently stands at 35-3-1 (27). In this time he has faced some noteworthy opponents, albeit with varied success, this will be his third attempt at capturing a world title.

Gregory Tony was the first man to beat Takam in what was Carlos's 19th professional outing losing via unanimous decision in an eight round contest. However a TKO (RD 11) against South African Frans Botha and another TKO (RD 8) against Michael Grant led to a draw with Mike Perez.

Takam then faced Tony Thompson and in an impressive display beat Thompson to win the WBC silver belt. Takam then travelled to Russia to face Alexander Povetkin, and in an another entertaining encounter both boxers traded punches throughout. Takam eventually was Knocked out in Round 10, but put in a brave show against a top competitor.

Victories thereafter, including a KO of Britain's Michael Sprott (RD 5) led to a trip to New Zealand where he fought and lost to WBO Champion Joseph Parker via unanimous decision. Again Carlos showed heart in defeat and had his moments of success during the fight.

A further two KO wins in 2017 led to him being installed as third in the IBF mandatory challenger rankings and when Pulev pulled out, Takam as next in line was again offered his opportunity to fight for a world title an opportunity he didn't turn down. Eddie Hearn has said recently that he had previously alerted Takam and his team to be on standby should anything happen to the Bulgarian Pulev and with Takam already in camp preparing for a match on November 4th he should be prepared physically despite the late notice.

Considered a durable opponent who likes to fight up close and throw punches consistently he was chief sparring partner for David Haye in his grudge match against Dereck Chisora. An orthodox fighter standing at 6 foot 1.5 inches and with a reach of 80.5 inches, he boasts a respectable 69 percent KO ratio.

Anthony Joshua disclosed that Carlos waited and approached him in a hotel lobby following AJ's victory over Dominic Breazeale and challenged him to a fight in the future. This altercation suggests that Carlos is well aware of who AJ is, not mention confident of doing well against him, the question that remains and that will be answered on October 28th is does AJ really know who Carlos Takam is?